


Gus's Family Portrait

by mysid



Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: F/F, Families of Choice, Family, M/M, Post-Series, Same-Sex Marriage, Unconventional Families
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-09
Updated: 2017-01-09
Packaged: 2018-09-16 02:26:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9269549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysid/pseuds/mysid
Summary: At his new school in Canada, Gus has drawn a picture of his family, but his new teacher isn't quite sure how everyone fits into his family.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Gus and his family are characters from _Queer as Folk: USA_ , and belong to Cowlip Productions.

**Gus's Family Portrait**

"Emily," the kindergarten teacher called into the classroom. "Manpreet." 

A moment later, a blonde girl and a dark-haired boy hurried into the corridor in which their mothers awaited them. The teacher, Mrs. Martin, said good-bye to Manpreet; Emily was too busy chattering away to her mother as they walked away hand-in-hand. Mrs. Martin then looked at the queue of waiting parents.

Lindsey, next in line, smiled at her, ready to say whose mother she was if the teacher needed a reminder. Mrs. Martin smiled back, but instead of calling for Gus, she asked,  
"Ms. Peterson, do you have a few minutes? I'd like to ask you a few questions when I'm done dismissing the class."

"All right," Lindsey agreed, although she hoped it wouldn't take too long. She still needed to pick up Jenny Rebecca from day care. 

She stepped aside, out of the dismissal queue, and tried not to look too nervous about whatever it was that the teacher wanted to ask. It could be anything: questions about Gus's preschool back in Pittsburgh, questions about how Gus was adjusting to his recent move, even questions about how much time Gus's mothers spent reading to him each day. But Lindsey couldn't help but suspect that the questions were about Gus having two mommies.

"There we go," Mrs. Martin announced brightly as the last parent in the queue departed with a red-haired boy. "Thank you for waiting," she said to Lindsey. She stepped back into the classroom and half-gestured for Lindsey to follow.

"Mommy!" Gus exclaimed as he launched himself from his seat and hurtled at her legs. "You're late," he scolded. "You're the last mommy."

"No, she isn't, Gus," the teacher immediately explained. "Your mommy got here before the bell, but I asked her to wait for last so I could show her the nice picture you made of your family. Could you get it from the art table for me?"

Gus beamed and ran to get it, but Lindsey's heart sank. This _was_ about Gus's non-traditional family. She and Mel had hoped that Toronto would be more accepting than Pittsburgh, and yet here it was, only a month into the school term, and some bitch of a teacher was going to make Gus feel bad about being different.

"You really did such a good job," the teacher was saying to Gus as she accepted the beige construction paper from him. "Gus tells me that one of his mommies teaches art?" The uncertain note in her voice indicated that she didn't know which mother it was.

"I do," Lindsey stated. She couldn't pretend to smile anymore. Gus still believed that this little tête-à-tête was to praise his drawing, but the two women knew better.

"You must get your talent from her then," Mrs. Martin said with a smile at Gus. When she looked back at Lindsey and saw that she was not smiling, her own smile faltered. "Uh—I mean—you probably do lots of drawing together."

It wasn't difficult to figure out what was going through the teacher's head; she was second-guessing which of Gus's mothers was his biological mother. His dark hair led many to believe that it was Mel.

"Uh-huh. JR's too little to draw," Gus said dismissively.

It was time to get this over with.

"You had a question," Lindsey prompted.

"Yes," the teacher said as she turned the drawing to show Lindsey. "I think we have everyone in the middle labeled correctly." 

Lindsey was only slightly surprised to see that Gus had included more people than she was expecting. The central figure had been labeled "Gus" in blue crayon, and the two flanking figures holding his hands, one with yellow hair and one with black, had been labeled "Mommy" and "Mama" by an adult with a black marker. A small figure with a black scribble of hair floated near Mel's shoulder and had been labeled "JR."

"And Gus told me everyone else's names," the teacher continued, "but—silly me—I got a bit confused when he told me who was who. Gus kept referring to 'daddies'—plural—but when I asked if he had two daddies like he has two mommies, he was quite emphatic that he has one daddy."

" _That's_ Daddy," Gus interjected as he pointed to the dark-haired figure to the left of Lindsey, "and _that's_ Justin," he added as he pointed to the yellow-haired figure beside Brian. "He draws comic books." Lindsey nearly smiled at how much shorter Gus had drawn Justin compared to Brian.

The teacher had pulled a black Sharpie marker from her pocket and was writing "Daddy" and then "Justin."

"And Justin is Daddy's partner?" Mrs. Martin asked as she glanced back at Lindsey.

Lindsey nodded, although she couldn't see what business it was of Gus's teacher. Lindsey was simply glad that she could answer affirmatively. When the wedding had been cancelled, Lindsey had been certain that Brian and Justin's volatile relationship was drawing to an end. She'd been pleasantly surprised to hear that Justin had been a frequent visitor home to Pittsburgh, and that Brian had plans to visit him in New York soon.

"And these are?" Mrs. Martin prompted Gus as she pointed to the three figures to the right of Mel and Jenny Rebecca.

"Uncle Michael, Uncle Ben, and Hunter," Gus explained as he pointed to each one in turn. He'd drawn Hunter much shorter than Michael—although he wasn't in real life. Lindsey guessed that was Gus's way of indicating that Hunter was a kid and that the other two were adults.

"So, Hunter is your cousin," Mrs. Martin said as she labeled each figure with his name.

"No, he's my big brother," Gus said emphatically.

Lindsey was surprised at that declaration, but before she could ask, Gus explained it to his teacher.

"Hunter is JR's big brother, so that makes him my big brother too. Hunter said so."

Lindsey did smile then; she also made a mental note to get Hunter an extra nice Christmas present.

"And he lives in Pittsburgh with your uncles," Mrs. Martin stated, but she sounded a bit puzzled. Gus nodded.

"I think I can explain your question about one daddy, more than one daddy now," Lindsey offered. "Gus and his sister have different fathers, and he may have been referring to both of them when he said, 'Daddies.' Is that who you meant, Gus? Daddy and Uncle Michael?"

Gus nodded again.

"And Uncle Michael is Hunter's father?" Mrs. Martin asked Gus, and then to Lindsey, with a smile, "One of Hunter's fathers?"

Lindsey smiled back and nodded. It was becoming clear that she'd misjudged Mrs. Martin.

Mrs. Martin laughed slightly. "It all makes perfect sense now. I was a silly goose not to understand it the first time, wasn't I, Gus?"

Gus nodded very solemnly. It all seemed very simple to him

"Why don't you put this back on the art table, Gus, and I'll hang it up on our 'Families' bulletin board later."

"He'll probably have the most unusual family on the board," Lindsey said with a nervous laugh. She may have misjudged Mrs. Martin, but didn't mean others wouldn't view Gus's family with hostility.

"Well, he isn't the only one with multiple sets of parents," Mrs. Martin stated, "although most of those are the result of divorces and remarriages."

Gus had returned to Lindsey's side and gripped her hand, ready to leave.

"Well, Gus, I do have to say, you are a very lucky boy to have so many people who love you," Mrs. Martin said.

"Yes, he is," Lindsey agreed as she gave his hand a squeeze.

"I'm sorry if you felt that I was being nosy," Mrs. Martin said as she walked them to the corridor. "It's just that it's helpful to know who's who in my students' families so I don't put my foot in my mouth."

"I'm glad you asked," Lindsey said. 

"What do we say about asking questions, Gus?" Mrs. Martin asked.

"Asking questions is a good way to learn!" Gus answered proudly. "Mommy, when we get home, can I have a really big piece of paper?" 

"Sure. Why?"

"I want to draw my whole family. Everyone else was just drawing mommies and daddies and brothers and sisters, but if I draw a picture at home, I want to include my grandparents, and if I draw Grandma Deb and Grandpa Carl, I should include Uncle Emmett since he lives with them."

"I suppose you should," Lindsey agreed. "Who else do you think you should include?"

 

_—Written March 2008_


End file.
